Tiny Embassy Bank has continued to experience double-digit growth in deposits in the Lehigh Valley, according to a recently released federal report on bank branch offices covering the region.

As a result, Hanover Township, Northampton County-based Embassy remains the top locally based bank in market share in the four-county Lehigh Valley region, jumping three spots to No. 6 overall for the period ending June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. At $882.4 million in deposits and 5.32 percent of market share, Embassy is still dwarfed by heavy hitters in the financial services industry, including the region’s top two banks, Wells Fargo and BB&T.

Wells Fargo, which remains under scrutiny for a nationwide scandal involving fraudulent sales practices, reports deposits of more than $3.3 billion in the Lehigh Valley, or 20.1 percent market share. It also has about five times the number of branches as Embassy.

But Embassy’s deposits in the region grew by $107 million, or about 13 percent, according to FDIC data. The deposits grew $155 million between June 30, 2015, and June of last year.

Embassy Bank CEO Dave Lobach noted that in Lehigh and Northampton counties, where the bank has its presence, Embassy’s market share stands at 6.7 percent. "You take a look at the David and Goliath story; we have eight offices compared to 36 [for Wells Fargo in Lehigh and Northampton counties]," Lobach said last week.

Lobach attributes the growth in part to recent consolidations involving bigger banks, as the region has seen the 2016 entrances of BB&T, which acquired National Penn Bancshares, while KeyBank completed its acquisition of First Niagara. Lobach said Embassy Bank, which opened in 2001 with a location off Routes 22 and 512 in Hanover Township, has grown to eight branches and has remained locally based.

"I think a lot of people think banks are banks are banks, that they deliver the same cheese and bread," Lobach said. "That’s not necessarily the case." For example, he said Embassy has never sold a customer’s mortgage and has traditionally kept a limit on bank fees, which is something big banks have raised to maintain profit amid declining interest rates.

Deposits are important for banks, in part because with more deposits, banks can make more loans and generate greater profit. For consumers, the FDIC says, deposits mean a sense of security. Each account offers FDIC insurance up to $250,000.

Otherwise, it was essentially a vanilla year with regard to bank market share. The top 10 banks remained the same, with Wells Fargo and BB&T still Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. Each saw the loss of one branch from the 2016 data. Wells Fargo has 41 branches in the four-county region, BB&T has 38.

Lafayette Ambassador, which is owned by Lancaster-based Fulton Financial Corp., and Bank of America switched places at four and five. KeyBank remained at No. 9 from 2016, which was First Niagara’s spot, but it dipped slightly in deposits and market share from the previous year.

Allentown’s American Bank, a community institution founded about 20 years ago as an internet-based bank, rounds out the top 10 with 2.55 percent market share at $423 million. That’s down from $639,000 a year ago. Merchants Bank of Bangor just missed the top 10 with $333.4 million, or 2 percent of the market. Other locally based banks to finish in the top 20 were New Tripoli ($305.7 million and 1.84 percent) and Neffs National ($277.3 million, 1.67 percent).

Overall, the report shows that 32 banks have 258 branches, or four branches less than the previous year, for the four-county region. Those banks hold about $16.6 billion in deposits, up from about $16.3 billion. The local metropolitan statistical area includes Carbon County and Warren County, N.J.